Fledgling 1958

Tadashi Nakayama made "Fledgling" with paint, and possibly other media, at some unknown date. It looks as though the artist laid down a khaki ground first, then built up the image by scraping and layering paint. I wonder if he felt like he was conjuring the image out of the dark? I can imagine him thinking about the interplay between the material and the ethereal. The circles and crescent moon hover over the image. The artist’s strokes build up to a bird form. The surface is alive, as though in flight. Nakayama's bird reminds me of the work of Agnes Martin, who also saw painting as an activity rooted in feeling and being. There’s a sense of stillness and peace about it, yet it’s caught in an ongoing transformation. Artists teach us to pause, to reflect, and to embrace the possibilities of the unknown.